UK trade minister in Dubai to meet finance officials

Mervyn Davies, UK Minister of Trade, Investment and Business, was due to meet top Dubai finance officials later yesterday, although he declined to say what would be discussed.

Davies is in the UAE nearly a month after British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson's visit to the country. "When you have a problem, the most important thing is to lay it all out in a transparent way and then tackle it," Davies told a British business group here.

Among the top officials Davies was slated to meet are Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Head of Dubai's Supreme Fiscal Committee, Mohammed Al Shaibani, Deputy Head of the Committee and Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Economy Minister.

"HSBC, Standard Chartered have been here for long and they are here for the long term," Davies, former head of Standard Chartered, said, adding progress has been made in paying UK construction firms.

"Over the past months there's been a stock-taking by Dubai authorities and that process is moving forward rather than backwards," said the British Ambassador to the UAE, Edward Oakden.